My fellow Americans blissfully suckered again: An American expatriate in Norway examines American politics then and now

March 2, 2002—Reading the news in American magazines and newspapers, and tuning in to American news sources such as CNN, I get a feeling of déjà vu. As I read the gushing journalists' reports on what a wonderful leader George W. Bush has turned out to be, hear of his excellence and determination in crushing terrorism and his sudden mastering of foreign policy (after being gently chided by the press for being less than astute on the subject), I'm sure all this has been said before.

It has. Go back 20 years and we see the same superlatives and breathless hero-worship being written and spoken about Ronald Reagan. The American press seems to have an incredible ability to not only overlook the ineptness and failings of its leading Republican characters, but it also doesn't hesitate to hold up these people as examples of heroic leadership and brilliant insight.